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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330929">Into the Dark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthia/pseuds/StarsCrackedOpen'>StarsCrackedOpen (Misthia)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Things Carried, Unseen [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Best Friends, Coma, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Master &amp; Padawan Relationship(s), Mind Meld, Missions Gone Wrong, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Pre-Relationship, Protective Ahsoka Tano, References to the Jedi Council (Star Wars), The Force, Trust Issues</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:14:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,711</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthia/pseuds/StarsCrackedOpen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a moment, Obi-Wan spoke. “Ahsoka. My bond with Anakin is...different. He doesn’t seem receptive to my attempts to reach him. But he might be to <i>yours.</i>” </p><p>Or: In which Anakin has cheated death many times. This time is a closer call than most, and he can’t do it alone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Things Carried, Unseen [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>245</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Not a oneshot but a threeshot this time!</p><p>This one is a little different in that while it centers on Anakin and Ahsoka’s relationship, it involves more characters. </p><p>Anakin really gets a lot of electrical shocks. I mean, Ahsoka too, but Anakin gets a LOT during TCW. I wonder if that didn’t contribute to some of his difficulties? That’s not exactly good for a brain, and I’ve heard of lightning strike victims having behavioral or personality changes after. But that’s beside the point.</p><p>This is set not terribly long after the Rako Hardeen mission, probably earlyish S5, for reasons that will become clear. Once again, I own nothing and make nothing from this. While written with pre-relationship undertones in mind, it's ambiguous enough to go either way. Tagged as usual, and you can read it as you’d like.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em>“I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I knew that somehow, I could find my way back</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So I stayed in the darkness with you”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>- “Cosmic Love,” Florence + the Machine</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Ahsoka was in the archives when a very strange sensation came over her, and she pressed a hand to her head. It was disorienting, and as it passed, she became acutely aware that something was <em>missing</em>.</p><p>After a beat, she recognized what it was, and cold dread washed through her.</p><p>
  <em>No.</em>
</p><p>Jocasta Nu rounded the corner to the shelf that Ahsoka was now leaning on, sensing the disturbance. “Padawan, what is wrong?”</p><p>“It’s...” Ahsoka shook her head. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.” The archivist clearly didn’t believe her, but nodded and moved on.</p><p>Ahsoka reached into the bond, focusing as hard as she could. The distance was an obstacle, but her master’s strength in the Force was such that she could usually sense him, or at least feel the space he occupied in it.</p><p>She felt nothing.</p><p>Ahsoka took a shaky breath. <em>He’s not dead. He can’t be dead. I’d know. I’d have felt him—</em></p><p>She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.</p><p>But then why couldn’t she sense him? And why was the Force bond suddenly...<em>slack</em>?</p><p>Swallowing hard, she left the archives and headed towards her quarters, chewing on her thumbnail. Her master and Obi-Wan were due back in a few hours’ time. She had planned to meet them at the hangar anyway.</p><p>Ahsoka paced, frustrated that there was nothing else she could do but <em>wait</em>. She stilled herself, and reached out again for her master’s Force presence.</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Climbing onto the bed, she folded herself neatly and did her best to meditate.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>When the transport docked, Ahsoka held her breath. The hatch opened, and there stood Obi-Wan. Beside him was Kix, and between them was a stretcher with someone on it. She could see only the top of their head.</p><p>She knew those messy waves, though now they were bloody and matted.</p><p>She stepped forward, trying to process, and suddenly someone brushed past her.</p><p>Chief healer Vokara Che’s long lekku swayed as she went to meet them, looking down at the still form and exchanging words with Kix as the stretcher was moved. Obi-Wan followed, brow furrowed deeply.</p><p>As they reached her, she looked with horror at the state of her master — bandaged, burned, and smelling of bacta and ozone. Strange pink fractals ran down his temple and neck, into his collar, and both eyes were blackened. She fell into step beside Obi-Wan, a wordless question on her face.</p><p>He turned to her and said, “Lightning. Dooku — he amplified it somehow—”</p><p>They boarded the turbolift, Ahsoka looking again at her master’s pale, still form, watching him breathe shallowly under an oxygen mask. The lift arrived at the Halls of Healing, and as they took Anakin in, Obi-Wan caught her arm. “This way.”</p><p>In a daze, she nodded, following him to a waiting area, sitting down next to her master’s master and feeling acutely the gap in the Force where Anakin should have been.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After what could have been minutes or hours or rotations for all she knew, Vokara Che returned to them, steely as ever. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both rose from their seats.</p><p>“He’s stabilized and is being prepped for surgery. Then he’ll spend at least two rotations in the bacta tank. The burns and blunt trauma to his body will heal, the skull fracture as well. Once that’s done we’ll reassess. He may wake on his own.”</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded gravely. Ahsoka spoke up. “Master Vokara, why can’t I...<em>sense</em> him?”</p><p>The healer fixed her with an appraising look. “Your master is in a deep coma, padawan. He experienced a massive shock to his system. Once the physical injuries have healed, we have ways to revive him, if need be.”</p><p>Ahsoka nodded, but something nagged at the back of her mind. How deep a coma was he in if she couldn’t sense him at <em>all</em>?</p><p>“I’ll let you know when he’s out of the tank. We will proceed from there.”</p><p>It was a clear dismissal. They left the Halls, Ahsoka still reeling. Obi-Wan turned, placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. “Anakin is alive. Have faith in him, and the healers. He’ll pull through.” A fond, rueful smile. “He always does.”</p><p>“I know,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll survive. It’s just — every other time he’s been injured or unconscious, I’ve still been able to sense him in the Force, even when he was near death. Now though...”</p><p>“I understand,” said Obi-Wan, and he sounded troubled. “I am concerned by that as well. But Master Vokara Che believes he will make a full recovery, and she is the best healer the Order has seen in generations. It will be all right, my dear.”</p><p>Ahsoka nodded. Anakin had cheated death many times before, and it seemed he had again. Now they just had to <em>wait</em>.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Two days passed, and Ahsoka did as she knew her master would tell her to — she practiced her forms, she meditated, she spoke with Rex. She read everything she could find on comas, and had almost no appetite. On the morning of the third day, Obi-Wan comm’ed Ahsoka.</p><p>
  <em>“Anakin is out of the tank.”</em>
</p><p>Ahsoka had leapt out of bed and dressed quickly, meeting Obi-Wan at the Halls of Healing. She followed him into one of the therapy rooms, a dimly-lit chamber off the main hall.</p><p>There laid Anakin, in simple white robes and hair still damp with bacta. The injuries were gone, except for a shadow of the fractals down his face and neck. He was breathing on his own, but unconscious.</p><p>She still couldn’t sense him.</p><p>Master Vokara Che appeared.“Master Kenobi, a word?”</p><p>Ahsoka’s eyes slid over to him. He nodded to Master Vokara and spoke quietly to Ahsoka.</p><p>“Stay with Anakin.” He squeezed her shoulder and followed the healer out.</p><p>Ahsoka took her master’s hand, pressing what comfort she could into his palm and through the bond. It felt like shouting into a void. She sighed.</p><p>Casting back, she remembered she had read that a comatose person could sometimes hear people speaking to them, so she started talking to him instead.</p><p>“Master...”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>End Part I</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As ever, please let me know your thoughts, good, bad, or otherwise!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Down the rabbit hole.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p> </p><p>Once the door closed behind them, Vokara sighed.</p><p>“His body is healed, and all his brain scans come back as normal. There is no physical reason he should be in a coma.”</p><p>Obi-Wan frowned. “Do you have any theories?”</p><p>“Yes. A defense mechanism, and likely not a conscious one.” The healer shook her head, looking at her patient through the observation window. “I have tried every method that is safe. If we push any harder, we risk destroying his mind.”</p><p>She hesitated. “There is a possibility. It is...unorthodox.”</p><p>Obi-Wan’s brow furrowed. “I don’t see another choice.”</p><p>Vokara turned to look at Obi-Wan.</p><p>“If a Jedi were able to reach his into mind, they might be able to wake his consciousness. We have tried the medicinal and standard Force methods without success, so I suspect it would have to be someone close to him. His former master, or—” She nodded at Ahsoka. “His student. One of you may be able to reach him where we cannot.”</p><p>Obi-Wan’s eyes flickered to hers. “A Force meld?”</p><p>Vokara nodded curtly. “A modified one, yes, but a similar concept. There are risks, of course, but otherwise, we will simply have to wait and hope for him to wake.”</p><p>“Do you think he will?”</p><p>The healer looked back through the glass. “That is up to him.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Ahsoka heard the door open behind her, and Obi-Wan entered again. “What now?”</p><p>Obi-Wan sighed. “Master Vokara Che has a treatment she will be trying now. I will meet you in your quarters when there’s news.”</p><p>Ahsoka looked at him, getting the sense he wasn’t telling her all of it. She looked back at her master, his face strangely slack, and squeezed his limp hand once more.</p><p>She followed Obi-Wan out of the chamber, and headed back to her quarters, hoping against hope that whatever they were planning would succeed.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>A few hours later, her chime rang. She opened the door to find Obi-Wan standing there, and by the look on his face knew the treatment hadn’t worked. She sighed, and stood back to let him in. He carried a vacuum bottle of tea and produced two cups, which he placed on her small, low table. He poured her a cup and sat on a cushion, gesturing for her to join him.</p><p>Under other circumstances it would have been comical — him playing the part of host in <em>her</em> quarters. She followed his lead, sitting down and taking a sip.</p><p>After a moment Obi-Wan spoke. “As I’m sure you’ve gathered, it unfortunately didn’t work.”</p><p>She shook her head. “He’s there, I know,” she said, quietly. “But it’s like he’s...locked away.”</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded. “Master Vokara Che believes it’s a type of Force-based defense mechanism. She thinks that to protect itself, his consciousness shut down in the Force and buried itself deeply. She believes she has a possible solution.”</p><p>Ahsoka stilled, waiting to hear why it hadn’t already been <em>done</em>. Obi-Wan took another sip, and eyed her over the rim of his teacup.</p><p>“Ahsoka, are you familiar with Force melds?”</p><p>She blinked at him. “The sub-form of...battle meditation?”</p><p>He nodded. “Master Vokara believes that the only way we can reach him at this point is a modified Force meld. Specifically, one with someone he is close to.”</p><p>Ahsoka looked at him, confused. “I’ll do anything I can to help him, but you’re far better at meditation than I am.”</p><p>Obi-Wan sighed, suddenly looking very weary. “I have already tried. My bond with Anakin...it is...different than yours.” There was a lot unspoken in the silence that followed. Since the Hardeen undercover mission, the relationship between her master and his former master had been...strained.</p><p>After a moment, and another sip, Obi-Wan spoke again. “He doesn’t seem receptive to my attempts to reach him. But he might be to yours.”</p><p>Ahsoka took all of this in, a cautious hope blooming. Obi-Wan continued.</p><p>“I am not asking you to do this. It is not without risk. A Force meld is an advanced technique, and this isn’t exactly a normal Force meld. We’re not sure if you’ll be able to bring him out, or even reach him at all.”</p><p>She met his eyes, determination clear. “I’ll do it.”</p><p>Obi-Wan hesitated, and then continued, voice gentle. “Ahsoka, we both know that Anakin is troubled in certain ways. I’m not sure what you will find — memories, emotions —”</p><p>She shook her head. It didn’t matter.“I’ll <em>do</em> it. It’s the only way we have to get him back. I <em>have</em> to try.”</p><p>Obi-Wan paused, then slowly nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Master Vokara will be there to monitor both of you, and I will be there to assist you if needed. Get some sleep. We will start preparing tomorrow.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The next day was spent in meditative exercises Obi-Wan led her through, intended to make it easier for her to initiate a Force meld with her master. He did not initiate a Force meld with her for fear that any traces of his mind, which Anakin’s had rejected, would cause him to reject her mind as well.</p><p>Ahsoka spent the evening in the archives, reading all she could about the technique. After several hours, she forced herself to go to bed, knowing she would need all her focus the following day.</p><p>She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The next morning, she headed down to the Halls of Healing as scheduled, feeling oddly calm.</p><p>She was met by Obi-Wan, who led her to a different, larger therapy room. She entered, surprised to find not only Vokara Che, but also masters Windu and Yoda. Sensing her uncertainty, Obi-Wan stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“We are here only to help, should you need assistance.” Ahsoka nodded, and approached the table where Anakin was laid out, far too still to be asleep.</p><p>From what she’d read in the archives, touch wasn’t required, but she’d always found that it focused their link. Ahsoka figured they could both use all the help they could get, and so she stood above his head, reaching her hands out and touching just the very tips of her fingers to his scalp.</p><p>He was warm to the touch, but still she felt nothing from him in the Force.</p><p>Unlike the usual Force meld technique, this was a one-way reach. She tried to ignore the eyes on her and intuit. <em>He can’t meditate <strong>with</strong> me, so...</em></p><p>So it would all have to be done on <em>his</em> level.</p><p>Encouraged a little by this revelation, she began.</p><p>She let her breathing slow and fall into sync with his. Her hands spread and slid down to gently cradle his head and face, fingertips brushing the stubble on his jaw that she knew he would <em>hate</em>. She closed her eyes, thumb absently skimming over his scar once.</p><p>There was something intimate about this in a way she couldn’t name. Ahsoka felt bizarrely exposed, like she was laying them both bare in front of the masters. She squared and relaxed her shoulders, releasing her discomfort into the Force. There was no room for that; all of her focus needed to be on the task at hand.</p><p>She let the chamber and the masters fall away, until nothing but herself, Anakin, and their breathing remained. She turned her focus inward, toward the bond. Where it was normally resonant with the Living Force, it felt dark and slack. It hadn’t been severed as it would have been by death, but it was...<em>empty</em>. Even concentrating, she couldn’t feel him on the other side of it.</p><p>There was just...darkness. Emptiness. She sank deeper, reached further. Far, <em>far</em> away, she could feel he still existed, but the emptiness was a vast gulf between their minds. A void. Something whispered <em>caution</em> to her.</p><p>If she lost her way in this, she might lose herself.</p><p>She paused to glean anything she could and quell the self-doubt that sat in the back of her mind. She stayed there, breathing with him, heart beating in time with his, and then she saw the way.</p><p>The Force bond would be her locus — if she anchored to it, she might be able to traverse the void without breaking up in it.</p><p>She reached into the space between them, into the bond that was eerily quiet, tracing the path she knew well. She left a shining trail of breadcrumbs as she went.</p><p>Ahsoka followed their Force bond, plucking it like the string of an instrument, sending pulses of memory and images in the Force to wind around it and mark it, rather than sending them <em>through</em> as she’d tried before. She came to the other end of it, where her master <em>should</em> be, and it dropped off into the abyss she had sensed before.</p><p>Wrapped in their bond, anchored to the return path, she tipped over into oblivion.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>End Part II</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As ever, please let me know your thoughts, good, bad, or otherwise!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Part III</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p> </p><p>In the chamber, Ahsoka stood as before, hands on her master’s head, though now expressionless and preternaturally still. She still breathed in time with Anakin, but otherwise showed no signs of life. Obi-Wan frowned. Yoda turned to him.</p><p>“The change, you feel?”</p><p>“It’s Ahsoka. She’s in there, but she has also become...distant in the Force. I can still sense her, though not Anakin yet.”</p><p>Windu frowned. “This may be far beyond the ability of any padawan.”</p><p>Yoda turned to him, serene as ever. “Faith in the padawan, you must have. Buried deeply, Skywalker is.”</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded. <em>Faith</em> he had. Yoda wasn’t finished.</p><p>“Great care for her master, Ahsoka has. Great care he has for his padawan.”</p><p>Obi-Wan didn’t miss the way Windu’s eyes cut between his former student and his student’s student. “Such attachment is a dangerous thing.”</p><p>“When they wake up, that discussion can be had,” said Obi-Wan placidly. <em>Again</em>, he thought. “But right now that <em>attachment</em> is what we’re counting on to bring Anakin back.”</p><p><em>Love</em> went unsaid.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>In the void, Ahsoka found she was still Ahsoka. The shimmering link held, the Living Force glowing within it and within <em>her</em>.</p><p>She reached out and found she could pulse, waves of her consciousness rolling out from her center. She sent out a wave, searching.</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Another.</p><p><em>Master.</em> </p><p>Another, wider.</p><p>
  <em>Anakin.</em>
</p><p>The shadows seemed to respond to her presence then, snaking over her, reaching for her. She didn’t flinch, and they did not harm her. They wrapped around her, tugging on her, bidding her to nothingness, and she held fast to the bond, its golden thread woven into her.</p><p>The tendrils wrapped around the bond, touching, pressing, falling back. Something changed, and Ahsoka felt as though she were moving in the void, somehow. She started sending out waves again, imbued with the Force bond.</p><p>
  <em>Master.</em>
</p><p>Something far away. She aimed her consciousness toward it.</p><p>
  <em>Master, I know you’re there.</em>
</p><p>Something again, not quite as far now. She continued, sending waves through the darkness, sensing she was getting closer.</p><p>
  <em>Anakin.</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>There was nothing. There simply...<em>wasn’t</em>.</p><p>Then there <em>was</em>. And then, <em>he</em> was.</p><p>He <em>became</em> slowly, a chord of <em>something</em> resonating in the void. Awareness came just as slowly, and it was of only endless rippling darkness.</p><p>He could not tell where the void ended and he began. He wasn’t even sure that <em>he</em> wasn’t the void. If he had a form, he did not know and could not gather it.</p><p>He wasn’t even quite sure who <em>he</em> was, only that he now <em>was</em>. He didn’t know what had called him from the nothing into <em>something</em>.</p><p>Here, time <em>wasn’t</em>, and so he didn’t know how long he existed there before the light came.</p><p>Its warmth spread around him, golden and gentle, and in the emptiness its waves traced his edges — edges he didn’t know he had. It rolled over him, and where it washed he felt his boundaries, became defined in the sea of nothing. He felt himself taking shape.</p><p>He reached his mind towards the source of the light, finding it suddenly familiar. He pressed his consciousness to it, sensing he should know it, should be able to name it.</p><p>And then the nothingness was fading, replaced by that golden warmth. Something aligned, and he was moving, pulled through the dazzling glow. He saw and felt through the lens of another’s memories, and remembered who he was.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Anakin’s eyes opened. Above him, so did Ahsoka’s.</p><p>He blinked, and she smiled down at him, hands still cradling his face. Relief and elation crashed through the bond, and Anakin winced a bit at the intensity, feeling oddly raw.</p><p>“Welcome back,” she said. Her thumb brushed his cheek once, affection bleeding through now, softer.</p><p>Confusion. The world came back to him in bits and pieces through his fuzzy mind. It took effort to speak. “Snips? What—”</p><p>Everything was disjointed. A blur of motion, and then Vokara Che was there, fluttering about. Voices, some he recognized and some he didn’t. Lights turned up and he flinched at the brightness. Ahsoka stepped back, releasing him, and Anakin shivered, suddenly cold. She disappeared from his hazy vision and was back with a blanket that she draped over him. She squeezed his hand once — that same warmth rippling through him — and was gone again.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Anakin wouldn’t have guessed unconsciousness would be so exhausting, but for the next day, all he wanted to do was <em>sleep</em>. After a flurry of tests Vokara seemed satisfied that he wouldn’t fall back into the coma. She had him moved into a room with a proper bed and let him sleep.</p><p>He drifted in and out. Medicines, vitals checks. Different faces. Strange dreams.</p><p>His eyes opened suddenly, with the sense he was being watched.</p><p>Mace Windu was looking at him, face impassive. Anakin pulled himself upright, ignoring the wave of nausea that the movement brought. “Master Windu.”</p><p>The master didn’t reply. His expression was unreadable.</p><p>“You and your padawan have an exceptionally...<em>strong</em> bond.”</p><p>Anakin fixed his eyes on Windu and waited for the next part of the statement; an accusation, an insinuation, suspicion or the usual general distrust. But nothing else came. They just looked at each other, Anakin reinforcing his shields more out of spite than anything else; Windu regarding him as though he were some particularly difficult puzzle to be solved.</p><p>After a moment, the master nodded and left. Anakin let out a long breath, head suddenly aching, wondering what had spurred Windu to say that. He gingerly lowered himself back to the narrow bed.</p><p>More strange, disjointed dreams. When next he opened his eyes, it was night, and Obi-Wan was standing at the window. Sensing Anakin had awoken, he turned.</p><p>“Glad to see you’ve rejoined us.”</p><p>Grateful it was only Obi-Wan this time, Anakin sat up slowly, head still a bit fuzzy. “What...happened? I remember Dooku — lightning — how—?”</p><p>“You were gravely injured by it. Master Vokara Che believes you entered a sort of...dormant state, a reflexive defense mechanism by your mind when you were struck by the lightning. She thinks that your consciousness shut down in the Force and buried itself deep within you to stay safe. You’ve been in a coma for nearly a week.”</p><p>Anakin scrubbed at his face. “But then I...woke up?” Pieces were missing, but he couldn’t identify them.</p><p>Obi-Wan leaned against the sill. “Not exactly. Master Vokara exhausted all the usual methods of reviving you, both chemically and in the Force. You remained comatose. A different approach was needed, so she suggested a modified Force meld. As she suspected it was a defense mechanism, it had to be with someone you were close with. Someone even your subconscious trusted.”</p><p>Anakin ran a hand through his tangled hair, trying to put it together. A memory was just out of his reach.</p><p>“You?”</p><p>Obi-Wan shook his head. “I tried. Your mind resisted me.”</p><p>The missing piece fell into place. “<em>Ahsoka</em>.”</p><p>A nod from his old master. Anakin processed this. “You made <em>her</em> dive into my <em>subconscious</em>?”</p><p>Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, slightly affronted at the suggestion. “She volunteered.”</p><p>“And you <em>let</em> her?” Anakin was trying to keep the anger out of his voice — a Force meld could be tricky for a master, let alone a padawan. Sending her into the mind of an unconscious person to retrieve them — into <em>his</em> mind — was insane.</p><p>What had she seen? Anything? Nothing?</p><p>“<em>You</em> would have done the same for her.” Obi-Wan’s voice was measured, but not unkind. “Anakin, she <em>chose</em> to do it, knowing the risks. You’ve come out of it intact. There’s nothing to worry about now, and we were there to help the whole time. It’s done, and done successfully. If there had been another way, we would have tried it.”</p><p>Anakin was unconvinced. “Where is she? Is she all right?”</p><p>“Ahsoka’s fine, she’s resting.” A small smile from Obi-Wan now, almost hidden in his beard. “I <em>ordered</em> her to go get some sleep.”</p><p>Anakin raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “She’s as good at following orders as I am.”</p><p>“For once, she didn’t argue. I imagine the experience was taxing for her as well.” Obi-Wan looked at him shrewdly, and Anakin fought the urge to look away, suddenly feeling like he was nine again and being inspected. “I’m sure you can sense that, given the strength of your bond.”</p><p>Anakin’s eyes sharpened and something twisted in his gut. He felt like he'd been rubbed raw and his temper flared. “Master Windu said something to that effect as well. Does the council have a problem with how I’m training <em>my</em> padawan?”</p><p>
  <em>You will not take that from me. You will not take HER from me.</em>
</p><p>Obi-Wan sighed, expression unchanging. “There are some who are...<em>concerned</em> about the depth of your attachment to her.”</p><p>“Like Windu.” Anakin fixed him with a hard stare. “And what do <em>you</em> think, my old master?”</p><p>Even for his former student, Obi-Wan could be hard to read when he wanted to be. His eyes were frank but his face and presence gave nothing away. “You <em>know</em> the rules about attachments—”</p><p>He stopped, and sighed again. An old argument, for another time. Then Obi-Wan frowned, the ever-deepening furrows between his eyebrows suddenly making him look much older than he was. Or maybe it was just the war that had done that, to all of them.</p><p>When he spoke again, his voice was unusually soft. “Anakin...you must take care to remember that love does not grant possession.”</p><p>Anakin had to clamp down on his temper, the headache worsening. It took great effort not to clench his jaw, and he didn’t know how they’d ended up on this topic, irrelevant as it was. He wondered how he’d been awake for five minutes and already earned a lecture. Some bitterness crept through — after Obi-Wan’s deceit, Anakin didn’t feel much like being lectured by <em>him</em> at <em>all</em>. He kept his voice level as he answered.</p><p>“I didn’t like what Master Windu seemed to be implying earlier, and I don’t like what <em>you</em> seem to be implying now. If you have something to say, <em>say it</em>.”</p><p>“I cannot speak for Master Windu. I am implying <em>nothing</em>. But you cannot wrap a person up within yourself in order to keep them. Even with the best intentions.”</p><p>Now Anakin’s jaw did clench. Obi-Wan’s face softened.</p><p>“You asked what I think. <em>I</em> think in truth, it is good that you have someone you feel you can trust completely.” There was something there, then, between them in the Force. Something that tasted like <em>loss</em>. And then it was gone.</p><p>Anakin suddenly felt exhausted again. Obi-Wan seemed to sense that, and placed his hands on Anakin’s shoulders, looking at him with unmistakable fondness, and worry. It was a familiar expression.</p><p>“Rest. I’m glad you’re going to be all right.”</p><p>He turned to leave, but paused by the door. “After Force melds, participants tend to find they are more closely linked in the Force to those whose minds they shared. You and Ahsoka may find the same.”</p><p>There was an unspoken warning underlying his words.</p><p>And then Obi-Wan was gone and thoughts Anakin didn’t like to think were very loud.</p><p>He laid back down, closing his eyes, fighting the anxiety off. His connection to his padawan was <em>fine</em>. It was a strength. It let them work together better, <em>fight</em> together better. He could <em>trust</em> her, and she trusted <em>him</em>. <em>She</em> hadn’t lied to him about being <em>dead</em>. She was loyal. And if he was honest, her presence helped temper some of his darker instincts. She was his...friend. <em>No one</em> would take that away from him.</p><p>A hazy memory, as if from a dream, floated up. A dark, broken room, hanging onto someone and shaking apart. Arms holding him close, stroking his hair; a quiet voice, an open bond. Warmth. <em>Safety.</em></p><p>He blinked it away as best he could, fighting the vulnerability he felt even in the recollection. He didn’t want to revisit that night. <em>Ever.</em></p><p>As he sank slowly into his fatigue, he remembered more of where he’d been. Darkness. He remembered a void, and then being pulled from it. He reached out along the bond, tracing its path. Obi-Wan had been right — it was even easier to sense Ahsoka at the other end.</p><p>She seemed to be asleep, but there, in the bond — that was the light he recognized, that had washed over him in his grief and then in the void.</p><p>But what had she seen in his <em>head</em>? His eyes opened and the thought sent ice down his spine. His mind was a treacherous place for <em>him</em>, and he <em>lived</em> in it. Would she request a new assignment—</p><p>A soft brush of reassurance came as answer through the bond. Whatever she had seen, she wasn’t rejecting him outright.</p><p>More comforted than he was willing to admit, he finally fell asleep again. He dreamt of light.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Fin.</em> </strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>However you slice it or like to categorize it, I’d argue that Anakin’s relationship with Ahsoka is the most honest relationship he has.</p><p>Poor Obi-Wan. He doesn’t regret what he did, exactly, but he knows now what it cost him and his former student.</p><p>I've said it before, I'll say it again -- I think Anakin has high-octane anxiety. I think that's why he gets possessive with the people he loves -- fear of losing them, rather than just being possessive for the sake of possession. Not excusing how it plays out, just speculating. </p><p>Some truth in this — lightning strike victims will sometimes suffer blunt trauma, broken bones, all sorts of injuries from a strike. The fractals I mentioned are called Lichtenberg figures and worth looking up, they’re fascinating. I imagined Dooku somehow amplified his Force lightning to the degree of a natural lightning strike, hence the degree of Anakin’s injuries.</p><p>As ever, please let me know your thoughts, good, bad, or otherwise!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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